Abstract

Background: There is a growing demand for alternative medicines derived from indigenous plants having natural antioxidants and neuroprotective actions for the treatment of many behavioural disorders such as anxiety and depression. This study was designed to screen antidepressant activity of aqueous extract of Piper betle L. leaf (betel leaf) in Swiss albino mice.

Methods: Swiss albino mice of both sexes weighing 25-30grams were used in the present study. Piper betle leaves aqueous extract (PBAE) was administered to the animals at a dose of 100, 200mg/kg body weight orally for 14 days. On the 14th day, after 1 hour of PBAE administration, experiments on force swim test (FST) and tail suspension (TST) were carried out for studying the level of depression. In FST and TST, time of immobility was noted for a period of 5 minutes.

Results: Data was analyzed by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey Kramer’s multiple comparison test at P = 0.05. The results were represented as Mean±SE. PBAE at a dose of 100mg/kg has shown significant antidepressant activity, as evidenced by decrease in the immobility time in both the screening tests of depression.

Conclusions: Present results demonstrated that PBAE possess potent antidepressant property. The exact mechanism(s) related to the active compound(s) in Piper betle leaf extract have to be elucidated in future studies.